High fee paying students need quick relief, higher education expert Andrew Norton says

The government must give quick relief to students paying $15,000 annual fees for business, law and humanities degrees, says a higher education expert.

ANU higher education professor Andrew Norton. Photo: Aaron Francis

The federal government must give quick relief to university students paying $15,000 annual fees for business, law and humanities courses by fast-tracking its review of the Coalition’s Job Ready Graduates scheme, higher education expert Andrew Norton says.

Education Minister Jason Clare has included a review of the scheme – which includes $4000 fees for teaching, nursing and agriculture at the expense of students forced to pay $15,000 a year for other courses – in the new universities accord which he wants completed by the end of next year.

However, Professor Norton, who researches higher education at the Australian National University, said the job needed to be done sooner so new, fairer fees could be legislated in time for the 2024 academic year.

He said the review panel, led by former NSW chief scientist Mary O’Kane, should prioritise its work and focus immediately on the amount which students contributed to the cost of their degree.

“They (the panel) have to determine what is urgent and what isn’t. I would say the student contribution issue is urgent,” he said.

Prof Norton conceded that a reduction in fees for business, law and humanities degrees would mean other students paying more. But he argued that the needs of students currently forced to pay unreasonable amounts for their education outweighed the needs of teaching and nursing students who pay comparatively little.

The National Tertiary Education Union also welcomed the review of the Job Ready Graduates scheme and its impact on students. “Those changes saw students slugged with higher fees on average and the slashing of public funding for teaching and research,” NTEU national president Alison Barnes said.

The universities accord, which is easily the broadest review of higher education since the 2008 Bradley review, was widely welcomed across the university sector following the release of its terms of reference on Wednesday.

The review will cover all aspects of higher education – including funding of teaching and research, affordability, transparency, governance and regulation. It includes examining the best ways for universities to supply the skills Australia needs, how university research can give more support to industry, how to create closer connections between higher education and vocational education, and how to bring more disadvantaged students into tertiary education.

“This is big-ticket reform which is very much in the Labor tradition and will be as important as the Bradley and Dawkins reviews were in their era,” said Luke Sheehy, executive director of the Australian Technology Network, a six-strong group of universities.

University of the Sunshine Coast vice-chancellor Helen Bartlett said she was pleased it was a broad review. “Rather than have piecemeal attempts to change things around the edges, this is a courageous approach to look at the whole sector and determine where we need to make the really big influential changes,” she said.

The Regional Universities Network welcomed the appointment of regional education commissioner and former National Party senator Fiona Nash to the review panel. RUN executive director Alec Webb said it recognised the important role that regional universities would play in meeting future educational needs.

Prof Norton said expectations for the review might be too high.

“The most striking thing missing from the terms of reference is expectations management,” he said. “There is no mention of the dire fiscal situation (of the government) which will seriously limit the options which are available.”

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